Ijazat - A Railway Station's Waiting Room

Ijaazat is a movie that has a flow very few other films possess. Directed by Gulzaar, it understandably has the poetic quality wherein the subject dictates the length and complexity of the narrative. A considerable portion of the movie’s running time (more than two hours) is utilized in the exploration of the multifaceted relationships between the main characters. And while Mahinder (played by Naseeruddin Shah) is the protagonist, the character is written to be anything but the conventional hero of a romantic Indian film. Similarly, the two leading ladies are not the predictable ‘heroine and the vamp’ fighting for the hero’s attention and love. This gives some much needed additional layers to the sub-continental love triangle at the heart of ‘Ijaazat’.

From the beginning, where Mahinder comes across Rekha’s character (Sudha) in the VIP waiting lounge of a deserted train station, the audience is kept guessing about the nature of their past relationship and the reasons for their marriage falling apart. We go on a journey through a series of flashbacks piecing together the information, not knowing who to sympathize with and who to blame. This, for me, is the success of the script since even Maya – the puzzling third wheel in the marriage – is likeable in her childlike love for Mahinder.

As Mahinder starts falling in love with her wife, the growing chemistry between Naseeruddin Shah and Rekha (both during their marriage and in the railway station) makes the audience want them to overcome their differences and end up together. That seems more likely after a cleverly placed but unfortunately weak point in the narrative i.e. Maya’s untimely and seemingly forced death. Killing off a major character in that manner is perhaps the only glaring fault one can find in a movie that otherwise broke the conventions of the time. However, it makes it up for it to some extent by not giving us the happy ending we hoped but would've been disappointed by.

Apart from Gulzaar’s beautifully written dialogue that is natural yet very lyrical in its delivery, Rekha’s performance as a wife torn between love, jealousy and self-respect is one of her finest in its simplicity and elegance. And as she leaves with another man (Shashi Kapoor)at the end of the film, the feeling that the story has come to the justified and logical conclusion is praise enough for the film’s script and the people involved in making it.